Great Torrington is a small market town in the north of Devon, England. Parts of it are sited on high ground with steep drops down to the River Torridge below, with the lower-lying parts of the town prone to occasional flooding. Torrington is in the centre of Tarka Country, a landscape captured by Henry Williamson in his novel Tarka the Otter in 1927. Great Torrington has one of the most active volunteering communities in the United Kingdom.
The Bodmin & Wenford Railway (BWR) is a heritage railway, based at Bodmin in Cornwall, England. It has an interchange with the national rail network at Bodmin Parkway railway station, the southern terminus of the line.
The North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway was a railway built to serve numerous ball clay pits that lay in the space between the London and South Western Railway's Torrington branch, an extension of the North Devon Railway group, and Halwill, an important rural junction on the North Cornwall Railway and its Okehampton to Bude Line.
The Tarka Trail is a series of footpaths and cyclepaths around north Devon, England that follow the route taken by the fictional Tarka the Otter in the book of that name. It covers a total of 180 miles (290 km) in a figure-of-eight route, centred on Barnstaple.
The Ilfracombe branch of the London & South Western Railway (LSWR), ran between Barnstaple and Ilfracombe in North Devon. The branch opened as a single-track line in 1874, but was sufficiently popular that it needed to be upgraded to double-track in 1889.
The Torrington and Marland Railway was a 3 ft narrow gauge built to carry clay from the quarries at Clay Moor to Torrington in north Devon.
The War Department halt was an informal railway station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent, England. Over the 15 years that the station was open, its location is believed to have moved several times. Details are scarce as this was a secret military installation, but the end of the War Department branch line moved as building work moved onto new stages. When the installation closed in 1945 the railway company took over the line for freight shipment of ballast. Again, the end point of the line changed several times as the exact location of extraction of ballast changed, until closure of the branch in 1951. The locations of the halt are now under water owing to subsequent commercial extractions and flooding of the ballast pits.
There are eight disused railway stations between Wadebridge and Bodmin North on the former Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway in Cornwall, in the United Kingdom, with ten other closed sidings on the branches to Ruthern Bridge and Wenfordbridge. The section from Boscarne Junction to Bodmin General is currently part of the Bodmin and Wenford Steam Railway; the line from Wadebridge to Wenfordbridge is now part of the Camel Trail, and the line to Ruthern Bridge can be followed for much of its length as it runs parallel to a public road.
Yarde Halt railway station was an intermediate halt on the initially privately run North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway, constructed in 1925 to serve clay works along its route. It was closed to passengers in 1965 and now forms part of the popular Tarka trail, a route for ramblers promoted by the local council.
Watergate Halt was an intermediate halt on the initially privately run North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway.
Dunsbear Halt was a relatively well-used halt on the initially privately run North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway. Opened in 1925 and closed to passenger traffic 40 years later in 1965. The line remained open for freight between Barnstaple railway station and Meeth until 1982. Today it forms part of the popular Tarka trail, and has recently been renovated by conservation volunteers.
Marlands Works was a busy industrial site for just over a century, firstly on the Torrington and Marland Railway, built to carry bricks and clay on a three-feet gauge, which in turn was subsumed in 1925 by the North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway before finally becoming part of the Southern Region of British Railways in 1948. The line closed to passenger traffic in 1965 as part of the Beeching reforms but the line remained open for freight between Barnstaple railway station and Torrington until 1982. Today it forms part of the popular Tarka trail, although an important site for industrial railway historians too. Marland Works station was used by workmen only and was not in public passenger use.
Petrockstowe is a small village and civil parish in the district of Torridge in Northern Devon, England. Its population in 2001 was 379, hardly different from the figure of 385 recorded in 1901. The southern boundary of the parish lies on the River Torridge, and it is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of Peters Marland, Merton, Huish, Meeth, Highampton and Buckland Filleigh.
Petrockstow railway station was a station serving the village of Petrockstowe in West Devon, which is about one mile away. The station was, throughout its passenger-carrying life from 1925 to 1965, spelt without the final "e" of the village name.
Torrington railway station was a railway station located in Great Torrington, Devon. It was closed by British Railways in 1965 as part of the Beeching cuts.
Halwill Junction Railway Station was a railway station in Halwill Junction, near the villages of Halwill and Beaworthy in Devon, England. It opened in 1879 and formed an important junction between the now-closed Bude Branch and North Cornwall line. It closed in 1966 along with the lines which it served, a casualty of the Beeching Report.
Hole Railway Station was a small halt on the North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway in the U.K. between Torrington and Halwill Junction, serving villages such as Black Torrington, Highampton and Sheepwash. The line, which opened in 1925, was a private line until it became part of the Southern Region of British Railways in 1948. The line closed in 1965 as part of the Beeching proposals, freight services having been withdrawn earlier on this section of the line.
Meeth is a small village roughly 13.5 km (8.4 mi) north-northwest of Okehampton and 40.7 km (25.3 mi) west-northwest of Exeter. It lies to the west of the River Torridge. In the past, ball clay mines were a major source of employment in the village, lying just to the west, however these closed in 2004. Their site is now a nature reserve owned by the Devon Wildlife Trust, called Meeth Quarry. The Trust's Ash Moor reserve is also located close to the village.
The Macmerry Branch was a North British Railway built double track branch railway line in East Lothian, Scotland, that ran from a junction west of Inveresk on the East Coast Main Line to Macmerry via four intermediate stations, Smeaton, Crossgatehall Halt, Ormiston, and Winton. Two lines ran off the branch line, one a spur line to Hardengreen Junction on the Waverley Line from Smeaton, and the other a branch line to Gifford from just past Ormiston.
The Tarka Valley Railway in Devon, England, is a proposed heritage railway based on plans to rebuild the Barnstaple to Halwill Junction railway line. So far only a short demonstration line has been set up, and planning permission was granted for 300 ft of track in the direction of Bideford. The railway has been fenced off from the Tarka Trail ensuring the safety of all involved. Restoration of various items of railway stock is currently under way.
